


A New Family

by Aceofstars16



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Other, Stranger Things 2, Stranger Things Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2017-12-05
Packaged: 2019-02-11 03:13:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12926118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aceofstars16/pseuds/Aceofstars16
Summary: After Hopper gets the adoption papers, he shows them to El. A fluff piece to celebrate Hopper adopting El because timeline wise it would be around early December.





	A New Family

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr post](http://aceofstars16.tumblr.com/post/168168924388/a-new-family)

Jane Hopper.

There is was, right on the paper. Hopper never thought it would happen. A year ago he had told himself it was a temporary situation. El had been all alone, freezing and starving. Of course he couldn’t just leave her there. He owed her that much. But he hadn’t seen this coming. She sparked something in him, a happiness he hadn’t felt in a long time. When she smiled he couldn’t help but smile too. It was as if she had showed him how to live again.

He hadn’t realized how much El had come to mean to him until he was faced with losing her. Of course she should be with her family, she still had family after all. Again and again Hopper told himself it was for the best. Family was important. He had lost his, he couldn’t take El away from her family, even if she didn’t know them all that well. But as much as he told himself that, he couldn’t help but wish she could stay with him. It was a false hope. And yet somehow…it had happened.

Looking up from the paper, Hopper glanced at the path that lead to the cabin – a place that had once held so much clutter, so many things he didn’t want to think about. But now it was a home.

Carefully placing the paper back into the envelope, Hopper got out of the car and made his way to the door. Knocking on the wood, a smile crept on his face. Us. That was their knock, and now it was even more relevant than ever.

The door clicked then swung open.

“Hey kiddo, I’ve got something to show you.”

* * *

 

El stared at the paper, her eyebrows furrowed.

“What does it mean?”

“Well…it means that in the eyes of the state, this is your home.”

“Home.” A smile crept up on her face as she said it. For so long, she didn’t know what that meant. People had thrown it around so much, even Hopper had called this place home. Now she knew, home wasn’t a building, it was the people she cared about, and the ones that cared about her.

“The bad men won’t come now?”

Hopper rubbed his chin, then sighed. “They shouldn’t. Dr. Owens said you should stay hidden for a little while longer, just to be safe though.”

“How long?” El asked, remembering all too well promises of soon, a soon that had never seemed to come.

“A year…”

“Year?”

“Give or take. It was just a suggestion. Maybe sooner. And your friends can come visit. It won’t be like last time.”

“Promise?” El watched as Hopper nodded. Then he reached over and ruffled her hair.

“Yeah, promise.”

El glanced at the paper again, and it was then that she realized something.

“Hopper.”

“Yeah?”

El pointed to the paper. “Jane Hopper. You’re Hopper.”

“Yeah, but now…you are too. You’re my girl now.”

El looked at him, the last time he had talked about his girl, he had been talking about Sara. “What about Sara?”

“She will always be my little girl, but you are too.” He looked down at a bracelet on his wrist – one that always seemed to be there. Then he took it off. “This was Sara’s. I wore it so I’d never forget her, I swore I’d never take it off…but I want you to have it. So you’ll never forget you have a home and a family.” Reaching out, he gently took her hand and put it on her wrist.

“Family.” El looked at the bracelet, then up at Hopper.

“Yeah, like your friends and their families.”

“And Mama?”

“She’ll always be a part of your family. And we can visit her any time you want. Okay?”

El nodded, smiling a little – a smile that was returned by Hopper. A home. A family. Not that long ago, El thought she had both, the lab had seemed like a home, Papa had seemed like a family, but it hadn’t been real. Now she knew what a real home was. She had friends that cared about her more than she thought anyone could care. And a chance at a new life with a new family. It was like a dream come true, a dream she had never even realized was a possibility, but now it was and it was better than she could’ve imagined.


End file.
